Jim Gurfein (born January 4, 1961) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player from the U.S. Gurfein reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 96 in September 1983.

Early years

Gurfein was born in New York City, and he is Jewish. Gurfein grew up in Great Neck, New York. He attended

Great Neck North High School John L. Miller Great Neck North High School or simply "Great Neck North," is a public high school, including grades 9 through 12, in the village of Great Neck, New York, operated by the Great Neck School District. As of the 2018–19 school year ...

and Stanford University. While on tour, Gurfein kept a residence in Atlanta, Georgia.

Tennis career

Gurfein was runner-up of the 1981

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

singles tennis championship, falling to Stanford University teammate

Tim Mayotte Timothy Mayotte (born August 3, 1960) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Professional career A tall serve-and-volleyer, Mayotte learned to play the game on the public courts of Forest Park in his hometown of Springfi ...

, and was an All American that year with teammates Mayotte, Scott Bondurant, and Scott Davis. He was a member of the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team in 1981. In 1982, he won a doubles title in Cairo with

Drew Gitlin Drew Gitlin (born May 26, 1958) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. As a qualifier, Gitlin reached the third round of the gentlemen's singles event at Wimbledon in 1982 where he lost to eventual champion Jimmy Connors. ...

. In July 1983, the 22-year-old Gurfein defeated world #22

Henri Leconte Henri Leconte (born 4 July 1963) is a French former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the French Open in 1988, won the French Open men's doubles title in 1984, and helped France win the Davis Cup in 1991. Leconte's ...

of France in a tournament in North Conway, New Hampshire and upset world #34

Christophe Roger-Vasselin Christophe Roger-Vasselin (; born 8 July 1957) is a French former professional tennis player. Roger-Vasselin won two doubles titles during his professional career. Notably in his singles career, he reached the French Open semifinals in 1983, be ...

in the

Swedish Open Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

in Båstad, Sweden. Gurfein reached a career-high singles ranking of #96 in September 1983. He won one doubles title and reached his high doubles ranking of #100 in June 1984. In 1984, he won the USTA Hawaiian Satellite tournament. In 1988, he defeated world #31

Michiel Schapers Michiel Schapers (born 11 October 1959) is a former tennis player from the Netherlands. Tennis career Turning professional in 1982, Schapers represented his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was defeated in quarterfi ...

of the Netherlands in straight sets in a tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida and was a doubles winner in Seattle with Buff Farrow). In 1986, Gurfein was participating in a tennis tour in Nigeria when, following a Bible study with fellow tennis pros

Bud Cox Charles "Bud" Cox (born April 11, 1960) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Career Cox played collegiate tennis while at Auburn University. He competed in the singles draw of a Grand Slam three times, but was unab ...

and

Morris Strode Morris Chesney "Skip" Strode (June 5, 1960 - April 17, 2021) was an American professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( d ...

, Gurfein jumped through a hotel window while shouting "Jesus!" He suffered cuts and bruises and the three players were sent home from the tour. According to officials, Gurfein, Cox and Strode said that they had seen God, tore up their passports, cash and other possessions and threw them out of a seventh-floor window. Fellow tennis pro

Bobby Banck Bobby Banck (born May 16, 1964) is an American tennis coach and former professional player. Banck, who grew up in Buffalo, New York, was a national 14-and-under hard court champion. Another Buffalo product Jimmy Arias was in his age group and the ...

said that the three men had twice broken into his hotel room in the middle of the night to urge him to "give up tennis and find the Lord." Banck had to call hotel security to remove the players from his room.

Career finals

Singles (1 loss)

Doubles (1 win, 3 losses)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurfein, Jim American male tennis players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish tennis players Tennis players from New York City Stanford Cardinal men's tennis players 1961 births Living people 21st-century American Jews Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York